DemonGoddess Posted January 31, 2012 Report Posted January 31, 2012 I've recieved a few emails this morning, saying how some pages are doing the "wall'o'text" thing where they weren't before. This is actually related to the older reports of the same issue, when the rich text editor was first added. At that time, it did this with many old stories. However, the data in the tables still shows the line breaks and what not. However, as these were straight text edits, instead of a coded line break or paragraph, there was a different kind of marker for making those breaks. At the same time, the word exported html inserts ended up with double/triple/quadruple spacing after paragraphs. While fixing something for the new code which did this same thing, we applied that fix in to the old code as well to fix the word html issues. What happened next is that any chapters which had partial html, but no containers; ended up wall'o'text as well. This does not affect all stories. The other thing with this, is this would've been implemented with the rest of the software later in the year as it is. Yes, I'm fixing as fast as I can, but this is done direct in the db, and there are many, many records I have to go through. It's a manual fix only, so this will not be fixed in a matter of days.
Nerys Dax Posted February 1, 2012 Report Posted February 1, 2012 Is there something I, as an author, can do to fix it? So you don't have to do it all. I'm hesistant to touch the chapters myself in case I make it worse for you.
DemonGoddess Posted February 1, 2012 Author Report Posted February 1, 2012 Sure. Just edit them where you're not uploading from a .txt file. That's what caused this to begin with, was straight text adds. It just wasn't VISIBLE for all of them, until a user went to make a change in a chapter where this had happened, until we fixed the other issue 2 days ago. So now, one sees all of the chapters where there are no text containers in the data. (i.e. paragraph markers in html)
Nerys Dax Posted February 1, 2012 Report Posted February 1, 2012 Sure. Just edit them where you're not uploading from a .txt file. That's what caused this to begin with, was straight text adds. It just wasn't VISIBLE for all of them, until a user went to make a change in a chapter where this had happened, until we fixed the other issue 2 days ago. So now, one sees all of the chapters where there are no text containers in the data. (i.e. paragraph markers in html) Okaaay, I'll just pretend to understand that techno mumbo jumbo by nodding vigorously and trying to look smart. XD However, I have been uploading all my chapters the same way (copied text from Word into the box here) and I noticed that most chapters have pasted together while others (in the same story, for instance prisoner only have ch. 1 and 2) haven't. If I (with my amazing tech skills) try to change it, can I just delete what's in the box now and copy the doc that's in Word and put that there, or will that not help? Sorry for my amazing knowledge. Eh, it's a miracle I got something uploaded in the first place. XD
DemonGoddess Posted February 1, 2012 Author Report Posted February 1, 2012 it's even easier if working from word. Just make sure you copy the text in to the box "paste from Word" and all the formatting is retained. Of course, you do want to select all and delete what's there first...LOL
Nerys Dax Posted February 2, 2012 Report Posted February 2, 2012 it's even easier if working from word. Just make sure you copy the text in to the box "paste from Word" and all the formatting is retained. Of course, you do want to select all and delete what's there first...LOL OK, thanks. I'll do that then.
Guest nekluvshp Posted February 2, 2012 Report Posted February 2, 2012 Why's the text in the about me section of my profile suddenly a wall of text?
DemonGoddess Posted February 2, 2012 Author Report Posted February 2, 2012 That has to do with the software changes upcoming tomorrow. At that point, the old profiles will be obsolete, and left for reference, while members edit the new profiles
Nerys Dax Posted February 2, 2012 Report Posted February 2, 2012 AAAAAAAAAAH! I saved all the AFFnet adult chapters in Word with the < i > codes in them, which I now have to all delete out of there because they stay visible. *head-desks* Yeah, yeah, I can hear you laughing all the way over here. XD Then again, you have an entire database to go through, so I can laugh right back at ya. We can LOL about this together. *cough, cough* But I did one story, got it back to normal and am on to the next one. I'm sure readers can wait a couple of days for those old stories. I'm writing an obscure pairing anyway.
DemonGoddess Posted February 2, 2012 Author Report Posted February 2, 2012 hehe yeah, I feel yer pain..
ApolloImperium Posted February 3, 2012 Report Posted February 3, 2012 Also: http://www2.adult-fanfiction.org/forum/index.php/topic/20135-how-to-fix-the-glitches-that-are-due-to-the-rte/ Step by Step Walk Through
Guest LaBibliographe Posted February 3, 2012 Report Posted February 3, 2012 Hello - I've been reading the wall o' text problem info and some of the comments by authors. The same thing has happened to most of my stories. So I am wondering: 1) If I do nothing and wait for AFF to work more on the new format/coding/etc., will my pages come back to normal in due course? I couldn't quite understand if your coding changes would address this problem and fix the pages w/o my intervention. 2) If your end is going to fix the run-together story chapters, will all my extra text above and below the actual story chapters be retained? I usually have a few sentences talking to my readers at both the top and bottom of my chapters that are not part of the text I inserted into the text box. 3) I have a great many chapters in several stories. I have html for words in italics and a few for bold scattered throughout my stories. If your changes do NOT automatically fix my stories, do I have to re-do all my own stories, removing all the html coding and re-submitting the chapters? This would be very labor-intensive because of those extra sentences both at the top and at the bottom of my chapters that are not part of the original Word text in my computer. I understand you have a monumental task and a tsunami of work ahead. I'm not in a hurry to get my stories fixed if the final result is that they do get fixed. Will you please let me know if it is okay to wait or are the changes not going to fix the run-together chapters? Thank you for your time and attention to my questions. LaBibliographe LaBibliographe@yahoo.com http://hp.adultfanfi...p?no=1296799417
MisatosPenPen Posted February 3, 2012 Report Posted February 3, 2012 Well, that sucks. But there are typos and such I have to fix anyway. It's going to be a long few days for me as well. Group hug!
DemonGoddess Posted February 3, 2012 Author Report Posted February 3, 2012 @LaBibliographe - 1. The coding changes themselves will not fix the draw errors. I'm doing that, a chapter at a time. It's something that HAS to be done manually. I've stopped everything else I was doing to fix the db crash from years ago, to concentrate on this particular problem. But, it will take me some time. 2. How I'm fixing is simply making sure the text is in paragraph containers. I'm not editing them at all. Because that's ALL I'm doing at this point in time, you will have to go back in and address some spacing issues, (for some reason some words are now running together, when they shouldn't, and don't in the raw data), if you added format codes, you'll have to remove those, and use the rte format tools to reformat that text. 3. As I said above, yes, they'll get fixed. However, please understand I'm having to go through each and every story, chapter by chapter, archive wide. I fix what's walled and leave the rest alone.
Guest uni Posted February 3, 2012 Report Posted February 3, 2012 This has probably been addressed... so I apologize if I'm repeating. But what about the recommended reading lists? I tried to edit it but it just comes up blank without my list. I know from viewing my profile that it's without breaks. I'm fine with fixing it myself but I'm confused as to why it won't let me edit it.
DemonGoddess Posted February 3, 2012 Author Report Posted February 3, 2012 That has nothing to do with the page draw error. You have to login in to the new system here, first. Be sure to clear you cookies and restart your browser before you do. Then, you can look at your old profile, and go in and add your rec reading in to the new profile.
Guest uni Posted February 3, 2012 Report Posted February 3, 2012 That has nothing to do with the page draw error. You have to login in to the new system here, first. Be sure to clear you cookies and restart your browser before you do. Then, you can look at your old profile, and go in and add your rec reading in to the new profile. Sorry, I don't quite understand. I cleared my cookies and restarted, logged in, and it still shows up blank when I go to my rec reading list...
DemonGoddess Posted February 3, 2012 Author Report Posted February 3, 2012 You have to add your rec reading list to the new software. Look up your old profile in any part of the archive, and then start adding to it.
Guest Kayla Kodai Posted February 5, 2012 Report Posted February 5, 2012 So.... would it help if we all went back to our previous stories and either reload them with the proper format, or to add in the breaks by editing the chapters themselves? Would that help you rather than having just you doing it all?
Ezriee Posted February 5, 2012 Report Posted February 5, 2012 This is just the way I found to fix the way my chapters are appearing. I just thought I'd share it because it may be easy for some...maybe not so much for others if you're not in a happy place with Microsoft Word. This will help with removing italic/bold/underline tags if you have them in your word file: Since my stories are older, all of my stories are just a MASSIVE wall of text that kill my eyes to even look at them as they appear on the site. I too have those tags to make them italic, bold or underlined but at this time, I don't feel like going through and doing a major glance to correct any of the small errors I might have. It took me about five minutes to fix this in a 4500 word chapter. All I did (in word) is do a control+f to find the < i > tag (in my case), highlight the line or paragraph and hit control+i which, of course, will make it italic. Don’t worry about removing the tag. When I made the parts that needed to be italic, including the tags, I just hit control+H. This brings up the find and replace box. Put the tag in the FIND WHAT box, Example < i >. In the REPLACE WITH box, just leave it blank. It will replace the tag with NOTHING, removing it from the file. When you're done with that, copy/paste into the text box on aff and edit chapter. PERSONALLY, I WOULD NOT SAVE THE CORRECTED FILE UNTIL YOU MAKE SURE IT POSTED CORRECTLY BY VIEWING YOUR CHAPTER ON THE SITE AS IF YOU WERE A READER. Just have an extra tab open in firefox or IE so you can just refresh the chapter to see the change. If all is good, then you can save it to your computer. For those of you who just wanna remove the tags and don't care about keeping your formatting, just use the control+h and remove the tags. DG, Apollo, Manta…I gotta say, I love the new abilities we have with everything! It will take me some time to fix all the stories but I will enjoy uploading any new stories/chapters and sharing my faves. Amazing job all!! marley_station and RogueMudblood 2
DemonGoddess Posted February 5, 2012 Author Report Posted February 5, 2012 @Misato- yes, a long few days indeed! @Ezriee- thankee! @Kayla - yes, everyone who edits themselves rather than waiting me, is helping. I greatly appreciate the assist! I'd be sure if re-adding that it's not a new load, but an edit; preserving your hits, rates and reviews. If you re-add as a new load, you lose all that.
marley_station Posted February 5, 2012 Report Posted February 5, 2012 So.... would it help if we all went back to our previous stories and either reload them with the proper format, or to add in the breaks by editing the chapters themselves? Would that help you rather than having just you doing it all? I kept the bookmark of my old profile, and then logged into the new interface in another browser tab using the link provided in the e-mail bulletin that was sent (Full Text of the news can be found here: http://www2.adult-fanfiction.org/forum/index.php/topic/29622-brand-new-new-code-and-other-updates-read-me/). Now, with the two profiles side-by-side, I have been integrating my fave author/recommended reading data into the new profile interface from the old one.
Nerys Dax Posted February 6, 2012 Report Posted February 6, 2012 Oh wow, you're much faster than me. I was about halfway through and wanted to continue editing my chapters, but when I got there, it was already back to normal. Thanks a lot.
DemonGoddess Posted February 6, 2012 Author Report Posted February 6, 2012 LOL, it's actually not fixed. That's a cosmetic thing, not a real fix. When the storyboard part of the archive is upgraded, this is going to happen again, if those chapters remain as they are.
xax Posted February 7, 2012 Report Posted February 7, 2012 In the interest of saving you so much hassle, DemonGoddess, I do feel obligated to say that it should be possible to automate the conversion process -- IIRC, the old "auto-formatting" system just checked for the presence of certain formatting HTML tags (br and p) and if there weren't any it would call nl2br or one of those PHP formatting functions to make the story text look right. It would be simple enough to write a script that would page through all the stories before a certain date, do that same formatting check, and then if it applied do the auto-formatting and update the story with the new text, so that it's saved in the database with <br> tags instead of newlines. The only downside to this is that all those <br> tags would show up if the author tried editing the story in the future, but it sounds like that's effectively what would happen the way you're doing it too, only with <p> tags? A more fancy auto-formatting routine would be able to wrap all text in <p> tags too, I think, so even that shouldn't be a huge issue. I just weep to think of you spending months and months patching up a huge quantity of old database entries when a script could do it all in an hour or two.
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